Laguna de Apoyo

On Saturday a bunch of us made the trek to Laguna de Apoyo. We decided to take the adventurous route and bike to Apoyo from Granada. It is possible to take a bus but by doing so you end up on a beach with other people and we wanted our own area to swim and relax. The trip was almost entirely along a dirt road. It was challenging enough that we were on a gradual incline but add in all the rocks, holes and cows to dodge and it turned into one of those video games where things suddenly pop up on the screen. The journey out to the lake took around two hours. We navigated our way by stopping every so often to ask the local people which way to the lake. We eventually ended up at a farm above the lake which, by the way, is actually a crater full of rain water. The family allowed us to pass through and descend by foot the steep trail down to the beach. The water in Apoyo is said to be one of the cleanest places to swim. The water is the kind that I like to swim in, warm and clear. Along the beach were some horses, cows and a couple of local boys swimming to cool off. We sunbathed, played soccer, explored and swam a lot. Around 3:00 we decided to head back because we knew that the trek back up the side of the crater would be long and difficult. In all it took us about an hour to return from Apoyo. The first leg up the trail by foot was indeed strenuous but after that it was smooth sailing. It is definitely a trip that I will do again provided I have the time! There is so much that I want to do just around Granada let alone the rest of the country.

We were very tired after our adventure so we all decided to go out to eat instead of cooking at home. We went to a Salvadorian restaurant and had pupusas. The best way to describe a pupusa is that it is like two flatbread pieces sandwiched together with pretty much any kind of meat, beans and cheese. I had the most common type, cheese and beans. It was very very good. One pupusa costs 12 cordobas which is just over $.50. Two pupusas is more than enough for dinner. The neat thing about pupusas is that the bread is considered Holy. From what I could understand they consider the bread of the pupusa to be like the bread you take at communion in a Catholic mass. Wasn’t able to understand how the bread I eat at dinner is the flesh of Jesus but I went with it out of respect. Since one is eating the flesh of Jesus Christ while eating a pupusa, one should not cut the pupusa into pieces to eat. Instead, you are supposed to pull apart the two flatbread pieces and eat it with your hands. I didn’t want to offend anyone so I tried pulling mine apart. It was messy but well worth the hassle!

Tonight a group of us are going to a bar in town to watch the Superbowl. It will be the first time some of them have seen American football so it should be interesting. My roommates are very nice and interesting. I enjoy being surrounded by new people with very different backgrounds. They all have spent a lot of time traveling and volunteering as it is very much their culture to do so. I wish that we as Americans valued travel as much as they do. It truly does open up your eyes to a world that is unconceivable otherwise.

Interesting fact: When you go to a store to buy a coke, you sit in the shop and drink it. Just like in the old days. After you are done, you return the bottle so it can be recycled. And when I say recycled, I mean the inside is washed out and more coke is put in. The outside of the bottle is not cleaned well. I guess it is not worth their money to clean the whole bottle. You can buy a plastic bottle to take with you but it is double the price!

Hasta luego!